THE TWITE 



LINOTA 



LOCAL names in surrounding counties : 



STATUS IN BRITISH AVIFAUNA : A local resident, and Jar 

 more widely dispersed in winter than in summer ; com- 

 monest, perhaps, during the latter season in the west of 

 Scotland. It is generally distributed over, heath-lands 

 and moors in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, in 

 winter resorting to more cultivated districts. 



RADIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 

 PAUL'S : The Twite is one of the rarest and most local of 

 London's bird visitors. I know of no record of this species 

 breeding anywhere within the Metropolitan area, and it 

 can only be classed as an irregular and scarce autumn and 

 winter wanderer. Information respecting its distribu- 

 tion within our limits is singularly meagre, a fact which 

 confirms the rarity of the species therein. It may, of 

 course, be overlooked to a very considerable extent, for it 

 is given to much wandering during the non-breeding 

 season. There are many localities in which one might 

 reasonably expect to find it occasionally, but I have 

 searched most of them in vain, and although I have had 

 a long and varied experience of the bird in its normal 

 haunts I have never yet had the pleasure of meeting with 

 it in or near the Metropolis. I have spoken to many 

 bird-catchers in and about the suburbs, but the Twite, 

 it is very evident, is practically unknown to them. 



It is unnecessary in the present work to dwell at any 

 length upon the habits of the Twite. These closely 

 resemble during winter those of the Linnet ; and, indeed, 

 the Twite is not unfrequently found consorting with 

 that species. Its food is similar, it has the same simple 

 twitter of a song, and its call-note a long-drawn twa-ite 

 gives the species its English name. It nests on the moors 



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